Hanwha Foodtech, which is led by Hanwha Hotel & Resort Vice President Kim Dong-seon, the third son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, has acquired U.S.-based robot pizza brand “Stellar Pizza.”
In January, Hanwha Foodtech signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Serve Automation, the parent company of Stellar Pizza, for a transfer of assets. Contractual documents for the acquisition were finalized on the 29th of last month. The acquisition was facilitated by Hanwha Foodtech Global, the U.S. subsidiary of Hanwha Foodtech.
Serve Automation was founded in 2019 by engineers from the globally renowned aerospace company SpaceX, led by Elon Musk. The founder is Benson Tsai, a former SpaceX engineer responsible for the development of rocket and satellite battery systems.
This contract was successfully concluded through the dedicated efforts of Kim Dong-seon, the Vice President and Head of Strategy at Hanwha Galleria, who focuses on leading in the global food tech market. Kim personally shuttled between the United States multiple times to make this deal happen. Hanwha Foodtech plans to acquire 100 percent of the assets and intends to employ some of the key technicians and management executives, including CEO Benson Tsai, as part of the acquisition.
Stellar Pizza boasts world-class technological prowess in the pizza robot market. It takes approximately 5 minutes to make a 12-inch pizza and can handle multiple orders simultaneously. Thanks to its fully automated system, which significantly reduces labor cost and other ancillary expenses, Stellar Pizza’s prices are around 60 percent lower than those of major pizza brands.
Hanwha Foodtech aims to lead the food tech industry by actively targeting the market based on various food and beverage contents and differentiated technological capabilities. To achieve this goal, it plans to collaborate extensively with Hanwha Robotics as well.